Steps Urged To Fight Stress Of Long-term Unemployment

August 31, 1985|by MARCIA COYLE, The Morning Call

Employers should give employees and community leaders at least one year's notice of plant closings and layoffs, and government should mandate a national mortgage abatement program to protect the unemployed from losing their homes, a national commission urged yesterday.

The National Commission on Unemployment and Mental Health, established in 1983 to study the effects of unemployment on the mental health of Americans, yesterday released its final report, saying the nation must begin to treat unemployment as a serious social as well as economic problem.

"The evidence is overwhelming that the general public is not really aware of the short and long-term ramifications of the unemployment problem," Dr. Harvey Brenner of The Johns Hopkins University said. "A significant portion of the economy continues to be in distress. That is clear to many health specialists but has yet to be made clear to the public and government officials."

Dr. Brenner, a commission member and a leading authority on economic conditions and social stress, said there is a direct, longtime correlation between economicdownturns and such stress indicators as mental hospital admissions, cardiovascular and renal disease mortality, suicide rates, cirrhosis of the liver mortality, state prison admissions and total arrest rates.

"Although the official national unemployment rate has lately stabilized at approximately 7.5 percent, actually more than 14 million Americans are not working," Dr. Brenner said. "These and others - the numbers cannot be determined - will continue to suffer the mental health problems linked to unemployment and economic unrest, perhaps for generations to come."

Walter Farrell, Jr., of the University of Wisconsin, another commission member, warned of the "devastating impact" of unemployment on the children of unemployed men and women.

"These children, we know, are at higher risk of physical and sexual abuse," Farrell said. "If we're not responsive as a nation - at all levels - we will be preparing a significantly impaired generation to carry on the prosperity of our nation."

The commission, chaired by the late Patricia Roberts Harris, former Health and Human Services secretary, made the following recommendations:

TO BUSINESS COMMUNITY

- Give employees and community leaders at least one year's notice of plant closings;

- Provide on-site job counseling, placement, interview training and retraining; at the minimum, provide effective referral to community agencies that can provide such help;

- Establish job loss planning modeled on retirement planning;

- Extend employee medical and mental health coverage for a resonable period after termination.

TO GOVERNMENT

- Mandate a national pre-notification period of at least one year for plant closings and significant employee layoffs;

- Mandate a national mortgage abatement program to protect unemployed homeowners from losing their homes;

- Maintain the present minimum age for receiving Social Security benefits;

- Mandate and fund national health and mental health insurance for the unemployed.

- Develop and report realistic job trend information to students and youth;

- Establish a system to track and report economic trends according to potential mental health impact.

The commission plans to disseminate its report among government officials, the business sector and the general public. It also is considering the sponsorship of a national conference on the issue, according to Farrell.

"The commission realizes that more jobs are needed," Dr. Brenner said. "But new jobs will only be a partial solution unless they reflect the realities of a changing economy. This means that new jobs - and retraining workers to fill those jobs - must be flexible; that workers must be adaptable, and that unions and management must work together to find creative, viable ways to address jobs and joblessness in a rapidly changing economic environment."

The nine-member commission was partially funded by the National Mental Health Association and its southeastern Pennsylvania affiliate, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and special corporate grants from Exxon, Scott Paper Co., ARA Services and Philip Morris.